New Technology, Ancient Practices

Another major step in the advancement in human space flight has hit another snag. Seconds after liftoff, a rocket engine failed, and Cosmos 1 never reached orbit.

Cosmos 1 is an independently-funded project which is testing new propulsion systems for space travel. Rather than using an ignitable propellant such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (commonly referred to as rocket fuel), Cosmos 1 was to use a large solar sail, that would enable the craft to "ride the light", and achieve speeds greater than any conventional spacecraft. This is an amazing idea, as this is a perfect mixture of old ideas and new technology. Everyone knows that travel by sail was the most efficient means of propulsion for sea-faring crafts for hundreds of years.

A snag like this is even more damaging to privately-funded projects. If this were a government operation (i.e. NASA) then in a year or two, they would attempt the launch again. Unfortunately the Planetary Society is going to have to do major fundraisers in the next few years in order to recover their costs.

I consider research like this detrimental to the survival of our species. In under 200 years, we have poisoned or Earth to nearly a point of no-return. There is less than 50 years of oil left on this planet. You can probably guess what will happen when the oil runs out, and it won't be pretty. At best, we will revert to steam power, but most likely, we will drop countless nuclear weapons on one another for the precious few drops of oil that is left. By that time, it won't matter, since the Earth will be poisoned beyond recovery. If a habitable, nearby planet is found, it may spell the survival of our species.

Cape Kindersley, Canada

This is what I would consider to be old news, but it is worth mentioning. For those of you who do not know what the X-Prize is, it is a ten-million dollar (US) reward to the team that manages to launch a space vehicle 100 kilometers into space, and completes a second successful flight within a two-week period. It is an incentive to jump-start space flight for civilians, in a market that is currently monopolized by governments.

Headlines were made in June of this year when the Scaled Composites team (USA) completed the first successful privately financed manned spaceflight with their vehicle SpaceShipOne. They have yet to complete a second successful flight, but they have announced that they will attempt to clinch the prize with their next launch scheduled September 29, 2004. They will have to successfully duplicate a subsequent launch on or before October 13, 2004 to win the prize.

Now that the 60-day warning has been issued, the remaining contending teams are scrambling to beat Scaled Composites and clinch the prize from under their noses. The DaVinci Project is considered to be the runner-up in the race, and is the only other team (out of 26 contenders) to have announced a launch date to compete with SpaceShipOne. Their vehicle, Wild Fire, is scheduled to take her maiden voyage on October 2, 2004 at Kindersley, Saskatchewan, Canada.

What is so intriguing about the Canadian contenders, is not only that the launch site is a hop, skip and jump from where I live, it is also the fact that the DaVinci Team is using an unconventional method to launch their space vehicle. Most of the other contenders, including Scaled Composites, are using a one or two-stage rocket to propel their craft and crew into space. This is based on technology that was developed for the NASA space program over half a century ago. The DaVinci Project, conversely, is using technology that is centuries old.

Wild Fire is set to be launched atop a reusable helium balloon. The balloon is set to take the craft to an altitude of 24,400 meters above the surface of the prairies, where the craft will then be launched into the edge of the atmosphere. The reasoning behind this is that the force of gravity is (marginally) less, there is far less air resistance, thus the craft would have to carry less propellant. It is an ingenious and economical idea. After the flight, the balloon would deflate to the surface for future use, and the spacecraft would float to Earth on a large parafoil.

Up to the present, manned space flight has not been economical. The United States government has spent billions (if not, trillions) on their manned space program. The leading contenders for the X-Prize, Scaled Composites, have allegedly spent in excess of 20 million dollars in developing their spacecraft. When so much money already invested, the prize may be regarded as rather frivolous. If these test flights for the X-Prize wind up successful in the upcoming months, it could usher in a new era in manned spaceflight -- one that is hopefully safe, economical, and available to the masses. I would certainly suspect that launching a vehicle atop a helium balloon would cost far less than currently accepted launch practices. Even if the DaVinci Project does not win the X-prize, it may just give them the cutting edge in the future.

"From now on we live in a world where Man has walked on the Moon. It's not a miracle; we just decided to go." -- Tom Hanks (Jim Lovell), Apollo 13.